Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/17/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  in april of 2024 i experienced problems with a ********* chain saw. i took it to waterford hardware for repairs. they replaced rings on the piston thinking that was the problem, no cure, next replaced the carb thinking it was the prob., no cure, next thing was swipe its computer clean and reprogram it, not the problem, saw still wouldn't run up to speed.husqvarna told them to do a vacuum test in december of 2024 and it still isn't fixed as far as i know since i haven't heard from either the man. or dealer. i've contacted the manufacturer as well as the dealer at least 10 or ******************** june of 2024 and they keep pointing the finger at each other telling me its the other ones problem. the last contact i had with the manufacturer said nothing done so far is covered under the warranty but they dont know what the problem is and won't replace this saw. this saw is a pro model and should have been fixed or replaced several months ago.they are both aware of the fack that i use it to cut several cords of fire wood yearly and this saw was only two years old when i started having problems. the warranty was extended to 5 years when i bought the saw and a year of that has been shop sitting in the shop on a shelf. i've all but given up ever having this fixed properly or replaced.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/24/2025

  Dear *****,
  

      We have had the pleasure of working with Mr. *** to try to get him a working saw; unfortunately it has been more of an uphill battle than the normal experience our customers have. The saw initially came in with symptoms of low compression; we ran a compression check on the saw and found it to have under the acceptable limits of compression for a saw to run properly. We then checked the piston and cylinder and found that it hadnt suffered a catastrophic failure, just a large amount of carbon build up and some small scratches. We were able to just ***lace the piston ring.  When we tested the saw after having the ring ***laced, we ran into issues of it not building up the proper amount of compression to run properly. The saw also started a new problem that it would not *** up and would die when you hit the trigger. We thought this was due to the piston ring not being properly seated and like most new piston ring installations just needed to be run a little longer to be put in the proper position. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown to us it just wasnt seating and admittedly frustrated us as to why it wasnt and sat here longer than it should have while we tried to figure out why.
  The first thing we do when this happens is plug the saw into the interface with the computer and look to see how its been run, where its settings are at, update the firmware if its needed, reset the fuel settings and then go out and fire the saw up again to see if this fixed any of the issues the saw was experiencing. Unfortunately in Mr. **** case this did not fix his issues.
  

      After updating the firmware didnt fix the saw the next logical step in the ***air process is to try a new carburetor since this model of saws carburetor cant be cleaned via traditional methods. When we order parts from ********* we have a $400 order minimum we need to meet to place an order. Some weeks this gets met very quickly, other times it can take a little while to put an order together that meets their requirements. Unfortunately at the time the saw was brought in, it fell under the latter category. When we did finally receive the carburetor it too was faulty and we had to call ********* tech support and they good willed us another one at no cost to us or the customer, but again that added more time to the ***air. Once we installed the new carburetor and updated that via the computer interface, the saw was still having the same issue that Mr. *** brought it in for; it would not *** up and would die when you hit the trigger.

       Next we called Husqvarna tech support again, to see where they suggested we go from there, since the new carburetor was not fixing the problem. They suggested that we order a new ignition module for the saw as we were following the right line of thinking in ***lacing the carburetor and that the ignition module was the next logical cause of this issue. Again we had to wait to have enough to place an order before we could get the ignition module coming for the saw.  The ignition module was paid for by our store and would be refunded to us eventually when we sent ********* our warranty claim for parts used and time spent ***airing the saw, however this did not fix the saw either and we werent able to submit a warranty claim and we are out this money as well as time spent trying ***airs.
  

      Following the failed ***air of the saw via the installation of a new ignition module we called Husqvarna tech support again to ask them what direction we should go with the saw now. They instructed us to pull the cylinder and piston to check for any damage to either of these items and send them pictures. This is a fairly time consuming procedure to tear the saw down to this point. We did this and found the saw to have the same scratches to both the piston and cylinder also noting heavy carbon build up. We sent the pictures off to ********* where they also agreed the cylinder and piston looked like the scratches and carbon could be problems. They instructed us to put the saw back together and await further instruction.
  

       Husqvarna e-mailed back a laundry list of things we should check including, more pictures, a cylinder compression check, pressure test the fuel lines and the saw itself, screenshots from when we have plugged it into the computer interface, complete the carburetor testing procedure in the computer interface, pictures of the saw to prove that it wasnt abused, pictures of the air filter and carburetor intake, pictures of the piston removed from the cylinder, and pictures of the crankcase before and after splitting. All of these requests are very labor intensive and require a near complete tear down of the saw to do them. We started on the list as requested to try and do our best for our customer but ran into one big hurdle that really slowed down the entire process, which was that we didnt have some of the plates that fit this specific model, as it requires a very special set.When we placed our order with Husqvarna it had an anticipated ship date for the middle of January before we would receive them. Because the parts for pressure testing werent going to be available for so long (3+ months) we spoke to ********* tech support and they found a dealer for us who would be able to pressure test it and finish the ***airs, Mr. *** found this to be an acceptable solution. We were not told to put the saw back together for the new dealer, and did not deem it necessary to put the saw back together as we had it at the point the new dealer would need it at to complete the pressure testing and would be a waste of time for us to put it back together as well as a waste of time for the new dealer to tear it back down to the point of being able to pressure test it. When the dealer received the saw in the torn down state they refused to pressure test it, and approximately a few weeks to a month later we received the saw back in our possession wasting time and further delaying the required parts to an estimated delivery of middle February at this point. We placed the order for these parts at the beginning of November and finally received them in the last week of January. We spoke to ********* at the request of Mr. *** and the Husqvarna customer care *** he was working with at this point to see if ********* tech support could do anything to hasten the process of getting us the parts, but there was nothing that could be done but wait,unfortunately. We finally received the parts a touch early in the last week of January and were able to pressure test it, unfortunately the saw once again passed our tests with flying colors holding pressure perfectly, indicating an air leak was not the cause of the issue for the saw. 
  

       Husqvarna had examined the pictures of the piston and cylinder and noted the scratches to the cylinder and piston as well as extensive amount of carbon build up and asked us about that. We told them his fuel looked good. And while Mr. *** did purchase the five year extended warranty by purchasing three cans of pre mixed fuel, it only covers manufacturer defects and craftsmanship of the parts NOT user error, misuse, or using of non-Husqvarna fuel. Because of the extensive amount of carbon build up to the piston and cylinder, ********* tech support deemed that it was the customers fuel that has caused the issue and therefore was not a warrantable issue.  They suggested a new piston and cylinder would be the correct ***air and that would cost Mr. *** over $350.00 dollars which is half of what the saw would cost. We generally do not recommend ***airing a saw once the ***air costs half of the equivalent new saw. We broke the bad news to Mr. *** and he was understandably unhappy and did not want to ***air the saw on his dime.
  

       To clarify a few more things about this whole ordeal Mr. *** did not purchase the saw here, he purchased it at another local dealer, but for reasons unknown to us they did not want to work with him to ***air it and instead suggested to him that we would be able to help him. As a full servicing ********* dealer we a required to work on it and we put a lot of effort into it as can be seen, tearing the saw down numerous times, calling tech support numerous times, talking to Mr. *** numerous times,ordering many parts at our cost. Mr. *** was never charged for anything that was done to the saw since it was never ***aired. We have lost the initial cost of the carburetor that did not work and Husqvarna good willed to us the second time, plus we are out the cost of an ignition module that we purchased, we are out many hours of labor spent tearing the saw down numerous times, the labor we spent installing various parts and the hours we spent on the phone with Husqvarna to try and get Mr. *** a working saw. During the whole process we asked Husqvarna numerous times if we could ship the saw to them to look at since we were getting nowhere with it, we asked them if they would be able to give him a new unit because his was seeming to be un***airable and they told us no we had to complete all the testing before that would even be considered. Meanwhile, while this was going on, two other events were occurring. This was our busy season for saw ***air where at any given time we could have ***** saws in the shop waiting for ***air and our second saw mechanic had a complete shoulder ***lacement causing a severe back up in our shop. We tried to be attentive to Mr. **** saw but it also was a massive time sink and we had a lot of other saws to take care of at the same time.  We hope this clears up some of the many issues and delays we had in attempting to ***air Mr. **** saw.

  
  Sincerely
  
  **** *******
  Waterford Hardware

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/26/2025

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
   
  Regards,
  
  ******* ***